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Santa Cruz’s New Bronson & 5010- The Good, the Bad, and More.

July 16, 2018

Since their release, both the Bronson & 5010 have been staples in the Santa Cruz line up, and in the MTB world. It seems like everyone knows someone with one of these bikes. Why? What’s so special about them? Why did they change for this year?

Well, let’s start with that first why. Versatility is something that everyone searches for, in the ski world you often hear of people looking for that “one-ski-quiver” that’s so elusive. The mountain bike world has been in search for something similar for a long time now. The release of the original Bronson, and later the 5010, were the answer. These bikes could descend like a dream, but could punch a climb out with ease, at least in comparison to other bikes that were supposed to do the same thing. I cannot tell you how many phone calls we received at the shop, wondering how soon one could be built up for them. Of course the high demand was partially due to the lack of availability from the factory, but that’s a different story.

Fast forward now, two renditions later, the new 5010 & Bronson are here. I’ll make the argument that they are better than ever, because everything about Santa Cruz as a company has improved, including their attention to detail. These bikes can be sported with “traditional” 27.5 wheels, as well as 27.5 + wheels. They have a flip chip in the linkage to allow for a change in BB height & HT angle necessary to run plus tires & 27.5. If you have listened to the new episode of the podcast talking about these bikes, you know how I feel about 27.5 + on full suspension bikes like this, but luckily for plus-lovers, I do not get to decide what wheel standards stay & go. Anyways, the new bikes use a link similar to that of the Nomad. This allows the rear wheel to track better, and allows for the continued success of the VPP system. This also means that both bikes now descend better than ever before, in theory not compromising anything on the up-hill. I’ll get back to y’all later on that. I feel like it’s very hard to judge the way a bike climbs on the first ride or two, especially when you’re excited about it.

Santa Cruz continues their life-time warranty through with the new models, new colors are available & new build kits. Included in the new kits are two things I find entirely necessary. First, the ” S -kit” now is available with Reserve wheels as an add-on. This brings the price-point to get a full carbon bike, with carbon wheels way down from SC, as it was previously only available with XO1 kits & up. Second, there is a new XTR, or Shimano faithful, build-kit at the way top end. I’ve heard some complaint about the lack of a high end Shimano kit, and they must have too, because it’s here now. In my opinion, the best case scenario is dumping every SRAM brake off of the models, and replacing them with Shimano, but that’s just me. Shimano Brakes, Sram drivetrain, and I’ll be a happy camper.